Still The Mafia

Gelsemium

Gelsemium

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Jan 4, 2015
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When we hear about Italy we recall the Godfather and the Mafia, but at the same time when I read such news I do wonder if they are something of the past or not?

Rome tourist restaurants hid mafia money: police

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The mafia hasn't gone anywhere, they're just more low key. Unfortunately a lot of businesses and organizations today are funded by crime syndicates. Restaurants, Music Labels, and just about anything big, has had links to the underworld. Don't be surprised this stuff as it goes on a lot here in the U.S.
 
Yeah, I know it's not exclusive from Italy, in every single country of the world there is corruption, simply it was something that passed to the movies, I guess that is why it's associated to Italy. Either cases, they got caught this time. :)
 
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The Mafia still exists, except I am sure they have a legitimate business side to things to for appearances. That's why who you know can be very important. Yu have to be careful because families are very extended in Italy and if you are from the same village they consider that family too.
 
The mafia's survival these days has much to do with social factors like high unemployment, lack of confidence in law enforcement and distrust of the state. Most politicians can be bought, everything has it's price.

Large parts of certain economic sectors are controlled by the mafia such as hotels, supermarkets and transportation, money laundering is still important. the modern mafia is alive and kicking.
 
It's a shame that such a dark part of society exists, considering that the vast majority of people works honestly for a living, it doesn't seem fair that some don't. Either cases, what can be done? I am sure that the police does it's best.
 
Yes it is a dark part of society but it gets glamourised by film and television, movies such as the Godfather and Goodfellas tend to add fuel to that image. The Sopranos however, takes a more realistic portrayal of mob life. It shows the more mundane day to day aspects of being part of the mafia and the huge stresses of this way of life. People within the mafia are trapped in to that way of life and have no way out, they cannot display any form of weakness and must always do what mafia tradition dictates.

To my mind being part of the mob is the most extreme form of peer pressure i can think of. Of course this does not detract from the reality that innocent people will continue to suffer at the hands of these people. The issue will not go away as long as corruption involving people in authority remains.
 
Gelsemium said:
It's a shame that such a dark part of society exists, considering that the vast majority of people works honestly for a living, it doesn't seem fair that some don't. Either cases, what can be done? I am sure that the police does it's best.
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I'm sure the police have links hence the Carabinieri which began in Sicily and I was always told (by Italians) the mafia have interests in them. They are the national police rather the state police and you don't mess with them.
 
The underworld has never disappeared, so why should we expect the demise of the Mafia. It may have evolved and gone more low key, since the law has become more strong and has been fighting it more determinedly. However, just as criminal are endless, so is the Mafia.
 
Gabe said:
I'm sure the police have links hence the Carabinieri which began in Sicily and I was always told (by Italians) the mafia have interests in them. They are the national police rather the state police and you don't mess with them.
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I wasn't aware that the distinction between local and national police existed, so they have different competences? I don't know if that makes sense, but as long as they capture more criminals I am all for it. Either cases, I feel that Italy is a safe country to visit, mostly we have white collar crimes, not for tourists right?
 
The Mafia is more low key these days. Trust me they're still around as they tend to be a lot smarter and invest their money into legitimate businesses. A lot of the drug dealers from Italy and the U.S. has a connection with them. The corner store where you shop could possibly be owned and funded by Mobsters, but the public will never know it.
 
While its true that the mafia way of life does get glamourised by films and the media, i dont think people are stupid enough to think its always like that.
A lot of people are saying that the mafia isnt as prominent as it once was but I have to disagree to a certain extent. While it might not be as prominent, that doesnt mean its still not as active as its ever been, just now in a more low key kind of way I think
 
That is something I always find strange, how the news we see are mostly bad and how the movies picture the bad guys like the good ones often. The people suffering most likely don't like that...
 
worldmachine said:
The mafia's survival these days has much to do with social factors like high unemployment, lack of confidence in law enforcement and distrust of the state. Most politicians can be bought, everything has it's price.

Large parts of certain economic sectors are controlled by the mafia such as hotels, supermarkets and transportation, money laundering is still important. the modern mafia is alive and kicking.
Click to expand...

You're making Italy sound like some sort of third world country. I haven't heard of a lack of confidence in the police in Italy.
 
I wouldn't have thought that there's a lack of confidence in the police in Italy, well, no more than in any other country anyway.

I'd imagine that every country will have issues when it comes to sections of authority, Italy will be no different depending on who you talk to. The fact is the mafia is still alive and well, but I don't think that's down to a fault in the police.
 
The mafia is still there but maybe not so strong like in the past. They will never be away completely and if this would be theoretically possible then new mafia structures would be built based on new people who have nothing to loose.
 
Not at all, the mafia still exists and it's not only in the south nowdays, but also in the north. Maybe in the south is a little bit more present because you can hear news about the "pizzo" which is a sum of cash that the entrepreneur have to pay to mafia bosses in order to not get killed or their firms/activites destroyed.
 
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